What is Vision Therapy?
The Need
The inability to point both eyes in the same direction accurately, which makes the eye appear lazy, is called strabismus. If it is not treated, strabismus may result in a vision development problem in the brain known as amblyopia—also called lazy eye.
A child who is unable to focus both eyes on the same object sees two different pictures. The brain does not know how to combine these pictures in a way that makes sense, so it ignores the image from the weaker eye and chooses to interpret only the image sent by the stronger eye. This condition, in which the brain ignores pictures sent by one eye, is amblyopia.
Amblyopia is the most common cause of childhood vision impairment, according to the National Eye Institute. Untreated amblyopia can inhibit learning. Because most learning takes place visually up to age 12, vision impairment alters the way a child understands the world and functions in it.
Other conditions that cause learning problems are cross eyes and convergence insufficiency.
The Treatment
Vision Therapy is an individualized, supervised, treatment program designed to correct visual-motor perceptual-cognitive deficiencies and binocular dysfunction (how the eyes work together as a team). The later affects the individuals ability to concentrate. Vision Therapy sessions include procedures designed to enhance the brain’s ability to control:
- eye alignment
- eye teaming
- eye focusing abilities
- eye movements
- visual processing
- suppression (non-invasive)
Visual-motor skills and endurance are developed through the use of specialized computer and optical devices, including therapeutic lenses, prisms, and filters. During the final stages of therapy, the patient’s newly acquired visual skills are reinforced and made automatic through repetition and by integration with motor and cognitive skills.
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